All Chapters of You Left Me At The Altar, Now You Beg Me: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

 ARIA Damian tried all he could to pacify me, to no avail.  I do not want to talk to him. I do not want to hear him out. I want to spit on his face. For telling me how to love Luna. For undermining my love for my daughter. A part of me says he is partly right, that I am putting ego over saving Luna. I refuse to believe it. Damian can go away, and we are sure to find another donor before Luna gets worse. Well, that is my thought until the doctor meets us again. “Mr. Sinclair is a viable match.” She says it plainly and quickly. “Everything works smoothly, and we can proceed with the transplant process fully.” She waits for either of us to speak. No one says anything for more than thirty seconds. I don’t know, am I supposed to say thank you to Damian? “When, doctor?” I manage to ask

 DAMIAN “Visiting hours ended minutes ago, Mr. Sinclair.” The night nurse says it kindly, more informational than an actual request for me to leave. “I just wanted to mention it.” “Thank you.” I don’t move from the chair. This is a private wing, and all those rules don’t apply here. I choose when to stay and when to leave. Or they go build their own ward. The nurse doesn’t push it. I don’t even expect her to. Maybe, unless she doesn’t love her job anymore. Luna sleeps with one hand curled loosely near the edge of the bed. I watch the steady rise and fall of her chest and think about how completely my life has rearranged itself around this small, unconscious rhythm in the space of weeks. I should go home. There’s nothing productive about sitting here at midnight watching a sleeping ch

 ARIA From the doorway, I see a wheelchair on the path leading to Luna’s room, but I don’t know it is. I get inside and shut the door behind me before I can even catch a glimpse of who is in the wheelchair. Each time I see a wheelchair, it reminds me of my world: my father. Everything he had to go through just to make sure I survive. My anchor and strength in the past six years. “You’ll not do it alone…” His voice resounds in my head. He said he was going to come. Last I called, he said he was going to give me a surprise. And as the day passes, I can’t wait to see him. To tell him about Damian and how he has managed to have his way with Luna. And how my body betrays me these days when I see him have a heart-to-heart talk with Luna…how I usually want to send him away but don’t. 

ARIAI try to get it off my mind, but I cannot. What if he is not a genuine reporter? What if he was sent by someone?My mind is not at ease. So, I press the elevator button, get in and walk out, looking everywhere as if I am searching for a suicide bomber. Left, right, front, back, center. Everwhere.I find him in the lobby before he even sees me. The same man, phone still in hand, trying to talk his way past a young orderly.“You.” My voice cuts across the lobby, sharp enough that several heads turn. “Don’t move.”He turns, and something in my expression boils harder. Because whatever explanation he is about to give irritates me already. Invasion of privacy is no joke.“Miss Cole, I was just trying to get—”“One more word from you and you will get your lawyer!” I don’t know when the words escape my lips, hostile and plain. “Who are you working for?”He stares in confusion that is not performative. “I am a reporter.” he lifts his ID Card again as if I didn’t see it the first time.“Y

 ARIA Evelyn’s email arrives while I’m still in the hospital cafeteria, and I almost don’t open it. Because I am expecting a task, another case update, or deadline. But the subject of the mail carries a heading entirely different from what I think it is, so I click it open. “Aria, the partnership committee met this morning. Effective immediately, you’re being made Senior Partner. Youngest in the firm’s history. Congratulations doesn’t do justice enough. You absolutely deserve it, and I wish you greater heights till you reach the apex of your career…” I read it again and again before it finally landed. Senior Partner. At thirty-one. The woman who arrived in this city six years ago with a suitcase, a secret and a dream. Who studied for a law degree between hospital shifts and sleepless nights, who built an